Small Watershed Grants Program

Two students and a guide pose for a selfie while paddling a canoe down a calm river at sunset.
Students get out on the water with the Anacostia Watershed Society. (Will Parson/Chesapeake Bay Program)

This grant program is currently accepting proposals. Learn more by viewing the Chesapeake Bay Small Watershed Grants 2025 Request for Proposals.

The Chesapeake Bay Small Watershed Grants Program awards grants of $20,000 to $200,000 to organizations and local governments that work on community-based projects to improve the condition of their local watershed while building stewardship among residents. Small Watershed Grants support local restoration and protection actions that help restore healthy waters, habitats and wildlife in the Chesapeake Bay region.

Since 2000, the Small Watershed Grants Program has provided more than $27 million to support more than 625 projects throughout the Bay watershed. These grants have been used by recipients to leverage close to $90 million in matching funds, for a total of more than $115 million supporting local community restoration projects.

The Small Watershed Grants Program is administered by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) in cooperation with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Chesapeake Bay Program. Additional funding partners vary annually, but have included the U.S. Forest Service, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service. NFWF produces an annual report of the Chesapeake Bay Stewardship Fund to summarize the collective impact of the grant investments made through both the Innovative Nutrient and Sediment Reduction and Small Watershed Grant programs.

Small Watershed Grants Projects

Small Watershed Grants projects can be located through an interactive National Fish and Wildlife Foundation map. NFWF has supported thousands of conservation projects in the United States and abroad since 1985. In total, NFWF’s Chesapeake Bay Stewardship Fund (which includes both Innovative Nutrient and Sediment Reduction and Small Watershed Grants programs) has awarded more than $125 million to support approximately 964 conservation projects throughout the watershed, while leveraging a total of $233 million in matching funds.